Music-tracking device for pneumatic pianos.



Y W. G. BETZ,

MUSIC TRACKING DEVICE FOR PNEUMATIC PI/IIOS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. I3, I9II.

fa 2 U D n wf j I I MU# I Il ATTRNEY. I

` To all whom i 'may @omer/.u x

Be ie known that "i, Wmme A, citiaeu of the Unified Svzree eu e resie oi Chicago Heig'me, oouuiy of Cook. en Stee of iiinois, have iiire'iited e eerie,

i D eu matic Pianos; an cio'iiereby deciar hat the oiiowing is a uii, oiear, and exaef; def'y seriptiou thereof, reference being had to +he eccoiupanyiug drawings.

he object of nis iureuiou is io gromde an improved meansA for automatioaiiy main-- taining' the music sheet iu pneumatic piaros iu propeigaiiueuieut with reference to'ie air ports iu the tracker bar. Such aime mene has hereioore been .meiueiue by means coutroiied by'iie edges of she sheet of music, out since the enige?, become were. from handling, Such raeiirlg means Soon beeomes iiiaccuree oud unsatisfactory.

The chief .Feeure o my invention oonsiszs iu ritiiizilg'he perforatious inV fue sheet of music `for causing fue proper @reekiug oi2 finire Seme, because they do noiA get Worn and are eocuiateiy ou by e etaucierd scale euri. @viii-Couso aoeuraie tracking regarleee of fue irregularities of 'the edges of the sheet., i Another ee in utiiiziug pneu 'the perforation?, ir

my iureuionA consists ineens leouibroied by e. music sheet for ef# 'n proper adjustzoent of the radier i eiieei o music. The nature o ehe vu wiii be uufiersaood from the einem u urawings. and 'the following eiescripciou im@ claims. y

in the drawings, Figure is. a from eierat-iou o e portion er 1 piano, wier, parte remove aii parte away. Figi-".2 is e veriea eecioe on ,-3 iiue 2-2 of i. en euiargeei roil eievezier. -oi e portion or" the Hacker ear and Lire eseocieted perte. Fig. 4t is a central reriioei seeeioi iougituiueiiy of iie device through the oublie powerl pueuzeeeie shown the ieiib-hau end o Wig,"a i. is a vertical itrauefferee .eeetiou through ehe erzieher bei on the iiee 5-5 o Fie. l, Fig. 6 is a front eieraiiouro a 'poriou of ehe raeier shown in out on e iarger seele.

En cieei there is shown a music sheet 1Q, such as usuei iu pneumatic pianos, and which Winds from 'the music roll 13. to Jhe take-up roii i2. These Lila L v '.'L 4 einem freiem.

reime, .aeeieuoe or airone, auermm eueureefrre eraiioe.

@ein if?? Meer@ ei No. 65;,a'5l i rolle. are carried by the usuai means mountn ed in eide bers i3 und M which' are couieciefi at ehe top by a oar eu u'ieh the boom iiereo resing ou the shelf board i5 the pieno. The foregoing parte may be made any desired wey, eheir particular oriu and arrangement eoustitue no part of this iuverriiou and it is understood that said parte are eseociatedwith the usual elements of pueumaeiopianos, which, however, are not. here shown.

The irecker imi' 20 is mounted in conneccion with a bar so as to be siidable iongitudinaiiy of ehe device. The bar 21 is fixed iu connection with the frame bers i3 and M and along its front surface has a dove-tailed groove in which a corresponding tongue 22 oi the trad-:er board fits. The tracker board. has Jdie usual ,air ports 23 through it in communication with the usual suction tubes 2i, which latter project through and are iuoumed in, the bar 2l. i

Aside from -rhe iaierai adjustment oi the recker baia, it has a further novel Characteristic or' being proride with a pair ofiongitudinai air channels 25 extending longitudinally hereof, substantially above the Series of air porte 23, as shown in Figs'. 2 aud 5. The channels 25 which are at the left-henri end of the device, as shown in Fig. l, .ere communication Withtubes 26 audi atfhe righi-hand end of the device said oiiauueis 25 are closed. at the outer end. Seien pores 27 lead from Seid channels 25 vo 'eheV from", surface of the tracker bar, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, there being' two of said ports 27 for each main air port 23, there being one pair of ,said ports 27 above euri between each adjacent pair of ports 23. @ne port 27 is iu vertical alin'emeut with one lateral ege of a main port 23 and. the other port 2T in verical aiinement with the adjacent edge of the adjacent port 23, as appears in Figs. l and 3./

A conueevion formed of bare .J and 3l ext-ende' from the left-hand end t' one end 'of ehe tracker bar to movabie member 32 of the double power lpneumatic 33 so thai; said power pneumatic cau iongit-udiualy adjust the posiion of ehe tracker board. The bars A and 3l are connected with each other adjustabiy so thai theycan be made any desired length to properly position the tracker boarc when the power pneumatic is in normal positiou.

matic has the movable member u re ye p ste 35 und io u.. m i

is secured io l 37 s: 1d metal plete be* l pluie 3G hy screws secured upon the und screws 239.

7 l; si lf hoard by brackets l`he double power prieu- L iulcrumcd midway its euds ou u rounded her Lll which is secured io he pouch board 3% so hzit seid uio 'sible member 2&2 can roch. ldjuceu euch end oi" the end portion of the rocking pluie 32 thcreis 4he usuul form of bellows forming 'two chambers 42 und uoruiuliy euch oi the bellows of the power pneumatic is pur-iully collapsed. suhsuuiully :is shown., so hu 'the movable uiciuhcr of the double power pneumatic cuu roch to `some cxcut, us shown by dotted iucs iu Fig'. l, iu either direciiou und when rocked to its limit in one direction one of the bellows will be eX- punded und the other collupscd. Between ghe phizcs 3l und 35 there is' :in nir chamber l-5 which is in conuuunicuiou with the malin nir reservoir oi', the iustrumeul through :i pore lso said nir chumber El is iu couiiuuuicution with euch of the chauibers oi" che power pneumatic through u, pore 4G, u passageway e7 und pori@ fl. rlihe pori; il is coiiarolled by u valve 5() on :i stem 5l which is heid normally closed by e spring 52 held between huis 53 ou the 5l und secured ou the metal plate 36. The vulve 50 opened hy the pouch being actuated by uir entering che pouch chamber 5o through :L passageway 55 and the tubes 2G, heretofore described. Aside from the muiu nir chember -l ell of the paris in his construction :ire duplicated, as shown in Fig. l, There is' :i small ventilation hole 57 lending from euch passageway to the chumber e3 so :is to. release the pouch when oir ceases to enter -hough the tubes 26. Therefore, when oir euiers either cue of the 'tubes 26, air will he wishdruwu from the corresponding side oi: the double power pueuuiutic und the tracker bur longitudinally adjusted somewhat, in one direc'bion or Ehe other, according through which of the tubes 26 the air happens 'to enter. 4

lilorioelly, and when lie perforsiiohs o ih; :music sheet are ih direct aliuemeh with heir corresponding nir ports 23', one or more parts oil each row of she smell. air por'lss 27 will, be exposed, when the periore `iioris iii the music sheet come along and air ih t "will e lier both izuhes 26 :dike exhaus; che air both chambers 4l-2 of she double power pheuuuiiio equally. shereiire7 mziii'reih :as shown ih if, hoi-lever, the peres 23 of "che tracker her do not register occurstely with he corresponding perforaioiis music slices so tha one sei: oli port-s 27 oe closed` hy 'the music sheet and the movahie member 32 thereof lpower j z corrcspzuuliuf ,Y sind hriug; ziliuciucu. The adj hu Bruclwr bur would o f bui, i would bc cousu=- uiuiutuin the opening-tsA iii with proper :iliucuxcu :iutoiuutirully.

'l cluim us my invention:

l. player iuecluuiisni for musical instr ments. eouiprisiiig` u 'traveling music sheet provided with perforulioiis disposed along purullel lines, tracker bur provided with openings coperuiug wih `bhe periorzitions of Suid sheet, aud menus cour/rolled entirely by both side edges of :i hote. perforsiou of o@ seid sheet, by luerail shift of fahe shee iii either direction, for nusomoiculiy pres-eri# ing ailinehien tiereol' u'ih the of said 'rnckcr her, opereed only ing through said sheee. i player iiicchehism for musico iiisritments. comprising o trereliiiig mu provided with p i rations disposed along parallel lines, :i erzieher bur provided with openings coperariug uih ehe perzorutious N0 of said sheet, und ineens ,f courrolled by Ehe opposite edges ci' each iioevperieorution of said sheet, for automatically pr serv* ing ulihemcnt ithereoi: with ogciuiigs olii seid trac 1er bei', ope "ited only by oir pessi175 ring through the perforaious the sheet? Suid means governed entirey by seid odg for causing relative shiife lxeiweeii the smid sheet :rml 1tracker her lougiudiuelly of the leer. il i* 3. A player mechuiislx'z. for mei/ris, comprising rsveli prei-vided with 'peroro'eioos parallel lines e erzieher i openings coperair. H5 of Suid sheet;i ,mesi by both side edges o perforation of said shea-rt hy o J@he sheet in opposie clirec'iohs, Lier sur meisicelly preserving eiriemeht, Jhe openings e only by sir .fr ple-yer meco. 'mem/s, com f1, provided Wdh, .@:irelie 1 peiiiugs cooper@ of seid sheet, on by both perforation l.

of the sheet in opposite directions, for automatically preserving alinement thereof with the openings of said tracker bar, said means including only two connections to said tracker bar, one for all right-hand edges and the other for all left-hand edges of said perforetions.

5. A player mechanism for musical instruments comprising a traveling music sheet provided with perforations disposed along parallel lines, a tracker bar provided with openings cooperating with the perforations of said sheet, and means controlled by both side edges of a note perforation of said sheet, by lateral shift of the sheet in either direction, for automatically preserving alnement thereof with the openings of said tracker bar, andv operated only by air passing through the perforation of the sheet, said means having a series of holes in said tracker bar, and a passage in said tracker bar, intersecting said holes.

6. A pneumatic piano including a longitudinally movable tracker bar provided with main air ports adapted to register with the perforations in a` sheet of music for controlling the operation of the key actions of the piano and also provided with two series of small air ports so located in relation to the main air ports and to each other that the admission of air thereto will be controlled t by thel perforations in the sheet of music, a

conduit in communication with each series of small air ports, adouble power pneumatic including a rocking plate fulcrumed at is middle and constituting the movable member of said power pneumatic, one pneumatic of said Idouble power pneumatic being located on each side of each fulcrum, the two ends of said double power pneumatic being in communication respectively with said aforementioned conduits, and means for transmitting power from said power pneumatic to the tracker bar for causing its longitudinal adjustment.

7. A pneumatic piano including a longitudinally movable tracker bar provided with main air ports adapted to register with the perforations in a sheet of music for controlling the operation of the key actions of the piano and also provided with two series of small air ports adjacent said main air ports,

said small air ports being arranged in substantially vertical alinement with the lateral l and alternate edges of some of the main air ports so that when the tracker bar is in proper registry with the sheet of music the perforations in the sheet of music will uncover one or more small air ports in each Series thereof and when the same are not in registry the small air ports of one series will be covered, a. double power pneumatic, a pas- ,said apertures first named, said second named apertures being partially uncovered when said perfor-ations are in correct reg1stratron with said first named apertures.

soi

' 9. The combination of a music `sheet containing perforations, with a tracker mechanism containing a set of apertures oo acting with said perforations to effect the production of musical sounds, and pneumatic mechanism for maintaining-registration between said perforations and apertures, said pneumatic mechanism comprising ducts having apertures/controlled by said sheet and adapted to communicate with perforations aforesaid, pneumatics having duets connected therewith, a suction duct communicating with said ducts first named, and automati cally operated valve mechanism for connectn ing said ducts first named with said ducts second-named.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto af fixed my signature in the presence ofthe witnesses herein named.

WILLiAM e. BETZ.I

Witnesses E. H. MAYO, O. M. MCLAUGHLIN. 

